


All Things Considered

by merrywinkle



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-05 22:54:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4198119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrywinkle/pseuds/merrywinkle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Human AU</p>
<p>Never forget your umbrella, unless you want to get soaking wet. Even if you did, don't worry. It might seem like you're having a bad day, but you'll never know what lies at the end. You might even get to meet a stranger, who isn't so strange after all. </p>
<p>A short story about two people meeting for the first time and a tonne of coincidences. </p>
<p>Warning: Obligatory F-Bombs because it's a fic with Romano in it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Things Considered

Rain poured over the dreary city, making it even greyer and more miserable than it already was. Everyone huried to get home or for those that didn't have one, to find shelter. Being wet is an unpleasant feeling. It feels as if the water soaked right into the bone and into your soul. Everything became soggy and heavier. It's very hard to find the silver lining in a weather like that, when you can't even see a few meters ahead of you, especially those who have forgotten their umbrellas. A muttering of profanities could be heard from these unfortunate people. 

A young man found himself to be one of these unlucky people, whose umbrella was comfortably lying somewhere in their homes, being uselessly dry, unlike their owners. He seeked shelter under an awning of an apartment building, not so much muttering profanities as cursing everyone and everything around him. Why wouldn't he? The rain had started suddenly and strongly and in a matter of minutes his coat and the back of his shirt was soaking wet. Romano's apartment building was just a few blocks away, but if he had continued on foot, he would have needed a new laptop by the time he got home.

With that in mind he unzipped his laptop case, all the while saying 'fuck' over and over. Inside he saw that his laptop was dry, a tad moist, but not soaking wet. 'Thank fuck,' he sighed. He scowled at the sky and all the falling water around him, 'Fucking rain.' 

'Chill out there, matey,' a bemused voice spoke from behind him. A stranger was leaning against the wall right next to the building's entrance, a cigarette glowing faintly between his fingers. His face was partially obscured by a hood. 'You a pirate or something? You sound like one with all that blatant cursing. Glad my grandma's dead, or you'd be in trouble there, buddy.' He didn't sound as if he meant to insult him. In fact, there was a hint of respect in his voice and a little bit of amusement. Of course, Romano didn't notice that. He burned quickly and easily.

He turned his head sharply at the speaker. Water shook out of his brown hair in droplets from the sudden movement. Some strands of his hair stuck to his skin like tentacles. He had the expression of a wet cat, and looked the part too. 

'Yeah, I'm a fuckin' pirate all right,' he said venomously, 'Who the fuck are you?' 

The stranger chuckled, finding him amusing, which made Romano angrier, heat rising to his otherwise freezing cheeks. He was beginning to notice how the cold was biting to his skin. The fact that he was soaking wet, meant that he was guaranteed to be sick tomorrow, miss work during an important time, and probably miss out on that promotion. He wasn't up for a promotion, but what if? In short, Romano wasn't having the worst day ever, but the scale was dangerously tipping over to that side. He definitely didn't have the patience to deal with a weirdo right now. 'What? Am I a fucking clown to you now, wise guy?' 

The hooded man was giggling even more now. Romano took a step back, unsure of whether the other guy was sane or not. The universe fucking hates me, he thought to himself. As a reply, the rain poured harder and in the distance, he could hear thunder. 

After catching his breath, he sucked on his cigarette and blew the smoke out smoothly. The smoke floated up and disappeared. 'Sorry, man,' the man finally said. 'It's just, eh, I've never met anyone who cursed like you. It's almost like a prayer or a, uh, chant, the way you said fuck over and over, just before. A true art form. You can see how ironically funny that is.' 

A prayer? Romano scoffed this guy was either a maniac, high on drugs, or a fucking poet. He couldn't decide which one's worst. 

The other guy took of his hood and held out his hand. 'I'm Gilbert, by the way.' Romano looked at his very pale hand in deliberation. For a moment, he thought of saying something allong the lines of 'none of your fucking business', but he fought against it. The rain showed no signs of going away any sooner, and he sure as hell didn't want to get back out there again. That meant that he was stuck under that awning with this 'Gilbert'. The guy didn't seem evil, annoying probably, but he seemed normal enough, except for that bit, where he said his cursing was like 'an art form'. Well, no one was one hundred percent normal, Romano thought. His brother came to mind. 

What the hell, he thought, there's no right way to deal with a maniac anyhow. 'It's Romano,' he said as he shook Gilbert's hand firmly. Gilbert's hand was pleasantly dry and warm. Romano could see his face clearly, now that he had taken of his hood. His hair was a shocking shade of silvery white and his eyes were piercingly red. Oh, he thought.

'I take it you don't come out much. No offense.' He added that last part, after noticing how callous his comment could have been taken, but a little part of him was unapologetic and considered it a little pinch to get back at the previous comments.

'None taken. And yes, I don't come out often, but not as less as you'd think.' he said as he puffed out more smoke. Romano watched the smoke dissappear. Damn, now he wanted a smoke, too. He took out his cigarette pack. 'Want one?' He offered, after seeing the hungry look on his face. 

'Yeah, thanks.' Romano took one and Gilbert lit it for him as he held it steady between his lips. Deeply inhaling it, he settled onto the wall with the building's entrance between them. Boy, does it feel good. It helped him to not shiver violently.  
'No problem. So, Romano, was it?' Gilbert asked. 'Sounds Italian.' 

After exhaling the smoke, he answered. 'I'm sort of Italian. Well, third generation, anyway. My granddad was the first.' 

'Cool. Me, too. Not the Italian part, but the third generation thing. My old old man is German,' he said. Gilbert pointed at the buzzers mounted on the wall next to Romano, which listed all the name of the tennants. 'Check “Beilschmidt“. Should be somewhere on the top left, I think. He taught us German cause my grandma couldn't speak English well. Not to mention how homesick she was.' 

Romano glanced at where Gilbert was pointing. Sure enough there's a 'G./L. Beilschmidt' written in a jagged cursive handwritting. 'You live with your granddad?' he asked. 

He laughed a little and answered, 'Actually, no. I live with my baby brother. But I might as well have been living with my granddad. For some reason, he's got a massive stick up his butt. All he does is fucking study and clean. Keeps everything mind-fuckingly dustless and clean. Why do you think I fuckin' smoke out here? Anyway, I could keep up with him in cleanliness and all that, but not everyday, you know?' he paused for a while to smoke. Romano leaned in, very intrigued by the similarities in their life. He sighed while blowing out smoke from his mouth and nostrils. 'I love the guy, but, man, I wish he'd loosened up a bit, you know what I mean? I worry he's getting prematurely old for his age.' 

Romano nodded. He knew the territory of this conversation well, as he's got a brother of his own. 'Yeah, I get you, man. I live with my baby brother too, but the problem with mine is, he's too loose, air headed, naive, you name it. I think it's sort of because he was spoiled too much by my granddad and pretty much everyone else, when we were little. That made him so fuckin' gullible and clueless. I feel like I gotta stop him from doing something stupid every fucking second of my life. You want to stop worrying for the little bastards, but believe me, no matter how much they change, you'd still worry about them.' 

Gilbert seemed to be listening intently, nodding all while Romano was talking. He wanted to reply, but the door suddenly opened and an old woman came hurrying out wearing a heavy raincoat, holding an umbrella. Her eyes squinted at Romano with suspicion, but smiled when she saw Gilbert. They exchanged hellos and started to talk. 

While Gilbert talked with the woman, Romano wondered why he was talking so much to this stranger. He's usually not so talkative, unless he was at the bar trying to get into someone's pants. He put his cigarette out on the nearby trashcan. Probably, it was because Gilbert was the one who had started to talk about his brother. He didn't think he had made up all that stuff about his brother. He could have, but that's not the vibe that Romano got when he was talking. All of it had felt genuine. He probably won't admit it out loud, but he had enjoyed Gilbert's company so far, despite how weird it started out. Just then, a gust of wind came out of nowhere and made the cold even worse. Now Romano was starting to shiver, as his wet clothes clung to his body, making it harder to feel warm. Fuck there wasn't any wind before, why now? He thought. With the wind increasing in frequency he shivered, hugging himself tightly.

Gilbert said goodbye to the old woman as she left. 

'What was that about?' Romano chattered through his teeth. 

'Oh, shit, you're freezing,' he exclaimed when he noticed how badly Romano was shivering. 'Jesus, you want to dry off at my apartment? You don't look so good, man,' he said with worry. 

Romano considered his options. It was probably unwise to come up to some stranger's apartment, but he was freezing and the rain was still going strong. The wind was exacerbating things for him. He could really get a horrible fever at this point and he rather not have that. On account of the situation being not normal Romano accepted Gilbert's offer, a second time in a day, through chattering teeth, 'F-fuck, yes.' 

–

Apparently, Gilbert hadn't exaggerated how much of a neat freak his brother was. The apartment was completely spotless and dust free. Everything was in it's place, tucked away out of sight in cupboards and cabinets, or stacked with deadly precision. Stepping into the apartment felt like, stepping into an IKEA catalogue, minus the Scandinavian design aspect. He felt bad to still be dripping on the floors, even after Romano dried himself with a towel Gilbert gave him before entering. 'Sweet fuck, you weren't kidding about your brother. This place looks like a fucking five star hotel,' Romano commented in awe. 

Gilbert chuckled and with a little bit of pride he said, 'Told you so. But this is more like a three star pension than a five star hotel. I still live here you know. If West had the run of the place all for himself, it might be a literal five star hotel.' 'West?' 

'Ah, it's a, uh, stupid nickname I have for my brother. Er, it's a long story,' he said. Romano just nodded silently. 

After making them coffee, Gilbert disappeared to his room for a while, leaving Romano alone in the kitchen. His coat and shoes were already left to dry on a nearby heater. He put both hands around his mug, feeling grateful for the warmth and to be out of the wind. He was mildly concerned. No matter how nice Gilbert had been until then, he was still a stranger. (Romano had sent a reply to his brother, Feliciano's frantic text as to where he might be and what he should cook for dinner. He informed him of his whereabouts and who he's with. So in the off chance where he gets murdered, at least they can arrest the bastard who did it.) Just because he found Gilbert to be a pretty good guy, that doesn't mean that he's a crazy axe murderer. 

Since Gilbert's room was off limits to his little brother's neatness, it became the messiest room in the whole apartment. Clothes were strewn about, his desk was piled with papers and books, and there was nearly no more space in his room as there were so many stuff lying around. While trying to find something that Romano could wear, he thought about that thing he had said about worrying over their little brothers. It sort of made him feel something. A camraderie, perhaps between two older brothers. The name 'Brotherhood of Older Brothers' came across his mind. Gilbert smiled at how stupid the name was. After digging through a second pile of clothes, Gilbert found what he was looking for. 

He ran out to the kitchen waving the hoodie like a flag. 'Found something that'll fit you,' he called out to Romano as he tossed it. 'Heads up.' 

Romano caught it and saw that it was a dark red hoodie with the name of the local university printed at the front. 'Get the fuck out. You went there, too?' Romano asked in disbelief and amazement. These coincidences were getting unrealistic. 

Gilbert's face lit up. 'Yeah, man! Well, technically I still go there, since I'm still working on my masters.'

They started to talk and gossip about the professors, class clowns, and everything.

'Wasn't it weird, how insanely international that fucking college was?' Romano asked. 

'No shit. I think it's the number one uni with the most precentage of international students in the country. There's probably like at least one student from each country on the planet.' 

Romano finished his coffee, after changing into the hoodie. He had one like it at home, but not as big. 'Sorry,' Gilbert apologized, 'That was the smallest one I could find.' Gilbert was taller and broader in the shoulders than he was. It felt nice, almost like swaddled in a big giant piece of cloth, making him feel safe and warm. The warmth made him feel happy inside. Despite his bad luck, Romano was silently thanking whomever it was that led him to the awning with Gilbert under it. 

They spent a nice afternoon talking, drinking coffee, and generally hanging out. They were having such a good time Romano hadn't noticed that the rain had completely stopped. What made him notice was the ringing of his phone. On the other side was a frantic Feliciano wanting to know where he was and dinner was almost ready and if he didn't come home quick enough, the sauce would have to be warmed up and it would taste not as good because this time he splurged a little on the ingredients and it would be a shame to waste it. All while Feli was talking (Loud enough to be heard by Gilbert, despite not being on speaker) Gilbert snickered on the background. Romano lazily flipped him off and sighed. After Feliciano calmed down, he said he's on his way home and turned the phone off. 

'Well, I've got a baby to sit,' Romano said while putting on his shoes. Since his clothes had dried, he returned Gilbert's hoodie. He gathered his things and said goodbye to Gilbert at the door, 'Thanks for everything. I had a good time. And uh, sorry for making a mess. I'll make it up to you sometime,' his face brightened a little, 'Hey, maybe if you want, you can come by and make a mess at my place.' Romano's relaxed smile change into a blushing red face bit after noticing how forward that seemed, and how it could be horribly misintepreted. 'I-I mean dinner, me and my brother. We'll cook you dinner or something. You c-can bring your brother, or girlfriend, o-or boyfriend or whatever. I don't care.' He was trying hard to look and not look at Gilbert in the eyes at the same time. 

Gilbert grinned and was surprised at how bashful Romano was, considering how easy going Romano was when they hung out. 'Yeah, sure. That sounds great. We'll have dinner. I'll bring West with me,' he said and then, being the cheeky bastard he was, he leaned closer to almost whisper in Romano's ear. 'Since I don't have a girlfriend, or boyfriend, or whatever, FYI.' 

At this Romano flustered even more, his face and ears burning red. He muttered something that sounded like 'okay, good for you' and left in a hurried mess down the corridor. 

Gilbert chuckled to himself and watched Romano until he disappeared around the corner. 

All things considered, it wasn't a bad day after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I've started on many fics, but fail to finish them all but this one. So I'm cheering a little bit on the inside cause I finally managed to finsih a story! Yay me! Wooo! Haha, I just can't believe it. It's just a stupid fic, but it feels good to be able to finish even a stupid fic.
> 
> To the fic: I wrote this sort of to establish how the relationship between Romano and Gilbert could be. There's an entire universe behind this little fic in my head. I've written some paragraphs revealing how deep this goes, but I think that's a story for another day. It's going to take a firm commitment to deliver this story, and I'm just not ready. *blushes*
> 
> Anyway, it would be great to hear some constructive criticism (or angry, hate filled rants, or anything really)!


End file.
